Wishling
by KS Claw
Summary: There is a lot to be cleaned up after the Battle of Easter, especially when it comes to the Nightmares. When chasing a particularly cheeky Nightmare, Jack and Sandy come across a cave, where they find a little boy trapped in a cage. A little boy, who has a remarkable similarity to a certain Boogeyman.
1. Chapter 1

It began with the Nightmare.

It had not been quite like the others that Jack and Sandy had fought together, since the battle at Easter. The few strays they had come across were either vicious or cowardly, depending on the amount of dreams they had absorbed. Some gained strength, and others gained size, though for the latter it sometimes became a disadvantage, making them slow in their speed as well as their intelligence, and making it easy to trick them. This made the work of reigning them in, and returning them to their original state as Dreamsand much easier, though Jack would quietly admit to himself that he liked it when the Nightmares were fast, and could give them a good, exciting chase, before he trapped them with a blast of ice, or Sandy caught them with a woven lasso of Dream sand.

This Nightmare, however, was small, about the size of a squirrel, clever and very,_ very_ fast. It had popped out of nowhere while Jack had been telling Sandy about a snowball fight he'd had with some new Believers earlier that day, when it had pounced out from nowhere, screaming as loud as possible into Jack's ear of all things, right before tearing off to who knows where.

Sandy and Jack were right on its heels, with Jack being in the lead for the most part. As it turned out, the Nightmare was very good at dodging, weaving through gatherings of chimneys, through alleyways and eventually beginning to weave through trees, as it lead the two Guardians with it out into the woods.

While Jack was eager to keep chasing it, Sandy began to slow down, frowning as he did so. The Winter Spirit noticed, the wind helping him to skid to a stop, before he used his staff to grab hold of a slender birch tree, and used it to turn himself around quickly. "Sandy, come on! It's getting away!" He called. The Dream Weaver nodded, but made a _'wait'_ sign, then a question mark, and what looked like a bear trap.

Jack frowned. "You think it might be a trap?" When the other nodded, he gave a thoughtful _'hrm'_ and settled on a sturdy enough branch, while holding on to the tree.

"Then what do we do? Should we go get the oth-YEOW!" The Winter Spirit cried out, when a black streak of something tore right past him, and with out a doubt bit him, followed by a quick tearing **_'RRRIP'_** sound.

The smaller Nightmare practically perched on a nearby branch, a piece of Jack's pants between its teeth, as it _grinned_ at the two Guardians, displaying the piece of fabric like a proud trophy. Jack gawked for a moment, then scowled.

"Why you little-" He set off before Sandy could stop him, the Nightmare shrieking gleefully as it set off once more, the two of them weaving between the trees and shadows. The Sandman grimaced in slight despair over the others temper (he thought it a miracle at times how Jack had started to get along with Bunny), but quickly set off after them both.

The Nightmare eventually lead Jack to the opening of a cave. This gave the Winter Spirit pause, if only because he could grimly remember what happened the last time something had lured him into a dark cave without any backup.

He would probably have let the wind carry him back to where Sandy was, if he hadn't heard the sound of someone crying. Tempted as he was to go straight in and investigate, he decided to wait until his fellow Guardian arrived. The moment Sandy finally caught up to him, Jack was given a solid scolding in a whirl of Dreamsand by the Dreamweaver, telling him how irresponsible it was to just take off like that!

And then Sandy frowned, paused and shaped an icon of an ear, a question mark and a closed eye with a tear running from it.

"Yeah, I hear it too." Jack agreed with a frown, "but I figured it would be best to wait until you got here. Didn't have the best of luck the last time I heard voices coming from a dark cave."

The Dream Weaver simply nodded, then signed how he would lead the way. If a child had gotten trapped in a place where a Nightmare was as well, then as Guardians they had to do their best to help.

They moved slowly, taking in their surroundings as they did so, with Sandy wielding his whips, while Jack kept his staff ready. As they got further into the cave, Jack grimaced at their surroundings, spotting a range of familiar cages. He nudged Sandy and nodded towards them with a 'look familiar?' expression. The Sandman responded with a grim nod. There was no doubt that this cave was part of the Boogeymans domain.

_If that sorry piece of a shade has gone so far as to kidnap a child... _Jack thought angrily, but stopped when Sandy suddenly grabbed him by his hoodie, tugging quickly while pointing at one of the cages. The Winter spirit frowned, narrowing his eyes when he spotted the tiny Nightmare circling the cage, the piece of fabric from Jacks pants still in its mouth.

When listening closely, the sound of sobbing could be heard from that particular cage.

The Nightmare spotted them and quickly disappeared with a shriek, when Jack sent a blast of ice magic at it. A bit of it hit the bottom of the cage, which caused it to rock, and the sobbing turned into an outright bawling.

"Crud..." Jack said with a grimace, earning a glare from Sandy. The Dreamweaver gave him a firm 'wait here' sign, before he flew up to the cage. Once there, he began to examine things thoroughly, because you never knew if it was another of Pitch's tricks, and a well made one at that.

But when Sandy looked into the cage, his eyes widened in surprise and shock. He gestured wildly for Jack to join him, his sand making shapes so fast, that the other had a hard time understanding him, while he grabbed onto the cage to steady it. One of his more desperate symbols took the shape of a padlock being smashed with a hammer. Jack frowned as he joined him, looking into the cage with a worried frown. The darkness made it hard to see things properly, but the glow from Sandy did, that he could at least see that the child was wrapped up in some kind of dark blanket.

"It's okay..." Jack called soothingly. "We'll get you out of there."

Or he hoped so anyway, the Winter Spirit thought worriedly, as he examined the cage along with Sandy. Already then he could tell something was off. While the cage had the same design as the ones he had seen in the other part of Pitch's lair, there was no part of it that looked like a door you could open.

Luckily however, it seemed like Sandy had a solution at hand. He motioned for Jack to get ready to pick up something, while he began to coat some of the bars of the cage with Dream Sand. A fine layer at first, but then adding more and more. The dark iron began to hiss, as if it had been coated with acid, and Jack soon realized what the Sandman was doing. But it also meant that other things might be listening, and the Winter Spirit caught himself looking around in alarm, watching the shadows in alert.

The child had stopped whimpering, probably reacting to what Sandy was doing. When Jack looked back, he smirked when he noticed how almost half the bars of the cage had been eaten away at this point, and he carefully perched on the edge of the cage. The soft glow from Sandy made a small figure more visible, and Jack thought he could see a pair of eyes watching him, wide with fear and brimming with tears. Who knew how long this poor kid had been stuck in this place?

"Come on, it's okay..." The Guardian of Fun said gently, "let's get you out of here." He leaned forward, carefully gathering the bundle up, and held it close. The child was stiff as a board at first, but Jack figured it was because the poor kid was, quite understandably, terrified of being dropped. But then it carefully wrapped its arms around his neck, giving a quiet sniffle.

"That's it..." Jack murmured softly, rubbing the child's back as he held it close. "You're gonna be okay."

Sandy on his part was looking worried, frowning as he hovered carefully around them. His eyes widened at sudden, and he quickly tugged on Jack's hoodie, pointing to the darkness before he quickly wielded his whips, scowling fiercely at what he saw. Jack looked, and felt himself go paler.

There were several Nightmares hanging from the ceiling, now all revealed by the glow from the steadily dissolving cage, their eyes lighting up in a range of white and gold as they glared at the intruders. They were, Jack noticed with slight dread, the kind that resembled the beasts they had fought around Easter. Which meant that they were sleek, fast and very, very dangerous.

"Hold on tight, kid." Jack muttered. The child let out a quiet whimper, but dug its fingers into the hoodie for a better grip. Then the whimper turned into a loud shriek when Jack suddenly let himself drop, before the wind caught him quickly, sending him speeding towards the cave's mouth, with Sandy following suit.

The Nightmares screeched in fury behind them and came after them in a large wave, their hooves seeming to crackle like thunder as they tore through the air after their prey, their eyes gleaming in hunger and fury.

Once they were outside, Sandy and Jack quickly set off upwards in an attempt to get away from the Nightmares. Looking down, Jack gasped when he saw the thick wave of the creatures thundering out from the cave. "There has to be at least thousands!" He called to Sandy, who could only nod with a frown. It shouldn't have been possible for there to still be so many after the Easter battle, but it was something they had to worry about later. Right now, the child they had rescued was their first priority. Cruel as the thought was, it also left them at a disadvantage, being unable to protect the child while fighting the creatures at the same time.

The Nightmares had followed them up into the sky, and had begun to circle them in a mass of snarling, screaming forms, seeming almost to merge in a shapeless black cloud of black sand and shadows, that only seemed to keep its distance, because Sandman was quick with his whips.

Sandy narrowed his eyes, looking to Jack, before grabbing him by the hoodie and setting off up straight up into the air. Jack followed the best he could while hugging the child close, right before Sandy seemed to drop them all three like a rock being dropped into water. His own golden cloud of Dreamsand seemed to expand, and before Jack knew it, he seemed to be drowning in a sea of gold...

And then they were in the air again, swooping down across an icy landscape that Jack quickly recognized as the northern frozen wastes around North's castle. There were no sign of the Nightmares, much to his relief, but the child they had saved was still (rather understandably) distressed, as Jack and Sandy set down for a moment to catch their breath.

"It's okay, it's okay..." Jack murmured to the kid, rocking it gently, while rubbing its back. "That was scary, huh? Don't worry, we're safe now." He looked to Sandy, frowning as he did so. "We're close to North's, right?" Sandy gave a confirming nod. "Right. Then we better get this little guy there as fast as we can." The child had slowly stopped crying, and had settled down, hugging close to Jack as he did so. Jack frowned in worry, brushing his fingers lightly across the child through the black material of the cloth he was wrapped in. The poor kid was frightfully thin... Just how long had Pitch kept the poor kid in that cage?

Sandy was looking concerned as well, yet at the same time he also seemed confused. He moved closer, and reached out carefully to gently touch the child's shoulder, drawing its attention to him. It turned its head to look at him, and as it did so, the upper part of the black blanket (or robe? Jack wondered) fell away, and Jack could only blink in surprise and confusion.

The robe had dropped down over thin, bony shoulders, revealing how the child was a boy. He had a mass of black hair that seemed to stand up like a crest, and in the light of the winter sun, his skin was pale, with a very obvious grey tint. His eyes were golden, and they welled up with tears as the boy began to hiccup with sobs again, clearly upset at the sight of the Sandman.

"S-Sandy..." He whimpered. "I'm s- I'm sorry!" And he let out a heart broken wail that had Jack cringing, before he instinctively pulled the little boy close to comfort him.

Sandy looked at the little boy sadly, before he carefully conjured up a golden butterfly, and made it fly into the boys face. The child's sobs died down, and Jack held him close as he passed out in the Winter Spirits arms.

The Sandman gently tapped on Jack's arm to get his attention, and carefully signaled to Jack, that they needed to get this boy to the North Pole at once. Judging from his very serious expression, there was no time to argue or ask questions, so Jack very carefully gathered the little boy up in his arms, and allowed Sandy to lift them all three up on a cloud of Dreamsand, that quickly turned into the shape of a carpet. As they flew, more and more questions seemed to gather up in Jack's head, though there was one that kept repeating itself, as he looked at the sleeping boy in his arms.

Why did the little boy look so much like Pitch Black?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So, long story short, I had forgotten that I hadn't updated Wishling here on , while it's up to date on AO3 ;^^ it's not a good excuse, but for the past several months, I've been super distracted, so some things are not easy to keep up. I hope you guys who only follow me on FF will still enjoy these chapters.

The flight to North's workshop went by pretty fast in Jack's opinion. It had perhaps taken half an hour tops, but it felt like only mere minutes, and soon the grand castle itself came into view. As they flew towards it, Sandy sent off a golden dream sand reindeer ahead of them to alert North that they were coming, and Jack braced himself and the little boy in his arms, as the dream sand carpet began to move downward and readied itself for a landing. They ended up settling down at one of the main entrances and Jack quickly jumped to his feet as the carpet dissolved, while Sandy hovered up in the air just as the doors opened, and they were greeted by North coming out, accompanied by two yeti.

"Sandy! Jack!" The large man exclaimed, his arms spread out in a welcoming gesture. "I got your message! Sandy says you found something?" He asked Jack, who nodded as he adjusted the small weight of the little boy in his arms.

Sandy was frowning, and flew up in front of North, waving his arms to get his attention, before making a series of symbols that were too quick for Jack to decipher, finishing with an arrow pointing at Jack and the sleeping little boy. North frowned at first, before his eyes widened at the sight of the child. He muttered something in Russian under his breath, and for a moment, he looked like he was about to say something, but then changed his mind when Sandy gave him a look. Instead, he cleared his throat, looking at the Winter Spirit.

"Jack… is what Sandy says true? You found him in a cave made by Pitch?"

Jack nodded, confused by the reaction. "Pretty much. We were lead there by a small Nightmare, and the kid was there, locked in a cage." He frowned, looking down at the little boy. "Can we talk more inside? I really think we need to get this little fella somewhere warm."

North nodded, stroking his chin with a strange, solemn expression, before he looked to one of the yeti. "Get room ready. You know the one." The yeti gave a garbled objection at first, but a sharp look from North silenced it, before it went back in, shaking its furry head. The Guardian of Wonder motioned for the others to come with him inside, with Sandy following him closely, the two seeming to be in deep conversation of some kind. Jack didn't really pay attention, as he carefully adjusted the little boy in his arms, making certain he was comfortable as he went after North and Sandy. Eventually, they made it to the Globe Room, where North proceeded to take them to one of the alcoves that had a fireplace, as well as some large chairs. Jack sat down in one of them, and focused on getting the little boy settled so that he was nestled comfortably up against him.

North and Sandy were in the meantime still having some kind of discussion, though Sandy's sand symbols were going by too fast for Jack to understand them. And once in a while, North would glance towards Jack and the boy with a strange thoughtful look, as if he couldn't quite believe the sight of the small child. Not that Jack could really blame him. It was a child who had a remarkable resemblance to an enemy that they had defeated only a few months ago.

_'What happened to make you look like this?'_ Jack wondered, as he looked at him. The boy murmured softly in his sleep, curling up closer to Jack.

Well, so long as the poor kid got some much needed sleep.

Jack must have dozed off himself, because he suddenly woke up, blinking wildly. The boy was still asleep in his arms, and someone, perhaps North, had put a blanket over them both. While Jack was a winter spirit, warmth didn't really bother him, so it wasn't because he had been too warm that he had woken up. Instead it must have been the sound of the other, more familiar voices, which were further away, possibly in another of the alcoves. Jack frowned, taking a moment to gently adjust the kid in his arms, while trying to identify the voices.

There was North, no doubt there. Then there was Bunny, who was sounding… concerned? And above it was the familiar twittering of Tooth's fairies and Tooth herself.

North must have informed the other about what was going on, then gotten them pulled away so Jack and the little guy wouldn't get woken up.

Deciding to investigate, Jack carefully got up and made certain the boy was comfortable in the chair, covering him up with the blanket. The winter spirit then frowned, remembering how he had a tear in the back of his pants from the mini nightmare, but decided that he could cover it up with his shirt for now, before grabbing his staff. Once he was certain a yeti would watch over the boy, he set off in a quick trot to where the others were, all the while keeping the back of his hoodie pulled down over the area where the tear was.

He found them, as he had figured he would, in the area almost opposite of the globe. Sandy was watching North, Tooth and Bunny, who looked like they were in the middle of a very intense discussion.

"- I mean, it makes sense in so many ways, with the way we couldn't find him!" Tooth was saying, looking very distressed. "And she – she never came back to see him!"

"Not t' mention a lot of other things." Bunnymund said gruffly, crossing his arms. "Lots o' puzzle pieces are fallin' into place now. All the signs were there too, but we've all been a right bunch o' drongos fer not seein' it before."

"We got distracted in ways we shouldn't have." North agreed, looking very tired and, Jack noticed with slight distress, very, very old.

"Hey guys?" Jack called, making everyone startle slightly, "what's going on?"

"Oh Jack!" Tooth exclaimed, her feathers rising up a bit before she quickly smoothed them down, "you surprised us! Uhm, you were asleep with the little one, and… we didn't want to wake you up, so-" Jack nodded, waving her off with a friendly smile.

"Don't worry about it. Just… have you found out anything? From what I heard, it sounds like you guys might know something?"

The other Guardians were silent at that, looking at one another. North looked saddened, while Sandy and Bunny were both frowning, and Tooth was biting her lower lip, while rubbing her arms as though she was cold.

"… We have an idea, of what is going on." North finally said slowly, "but we won't know for certain until the little one wakes up." He frowned, looking at Jack. "He is safe, yes?"

"He's fine," Jack assured him. "He's still sleeping, so I made sure he was comfortable in the chair. One of the yeti is watching him."

The Russian nodded thoughtfully at that. "Good… Let him sleep. With what he has been through, he needs some good rest." He frowned, looking up at Jack. "In fact, I have an idea. Yeti should be done with preparations now. We have a room he can stay in."

In the short time that he had been a Guardian, Jack had learned that North always did his best to be prepared for things. Apparently, this included having children at his workshop, as was revealed when North lead Jack to a small room. The air was practically thick with magic, which had swept up any dust that had been there, leaving the room sparkling clean. It was only lit by a few lanterns, that were currently dimmed, and by one wall was a bed that was perfect in its size. The covers were freshly prepared and smelled of pinewood and snow, and the bed itself was incredibly soft.

If anything, the poor kid might be getting the best sleep he's had for a long time, Jack thought, as he gently put the child down in the bed and tucked him in. The small boy curled up under the covers, his face scrunching up, but his features soon softened, and he relaxed with a small sigh, staying asleep as Jack carefully tucked him in.

Jack let out a soft breath of air he didn't know he had been holding, and straightened up, before looking to North, who was watching the boy with a strange, solemn expression. The older Guardian then seemed to make a decision with himself, before he nodded at Jack and turned to the yeti that had followed them from the Globe room.

"Keep an eye on him for us, please? Let us know when he wakes up." He asked, and the yeti nodded before grumbling, motioning for Jack and North to get going already and let the child have his rest in peace. Jack found that he couldn't stop looking back towards the little boy as he walked off however, frowning with worry.

He had a feeling there was a lot to learn about this kid.

When the two of them returned to the Globe room, the other Guardians had settled down, each of them sitting with their choice of beverage and snacks that had been brought to them while they waited. Bunny looked up when he heard them approach and got to his feet, frowning.

"So, North." He said, glancing towards Jack and then back to the Guardian of Wonder. "Is it what we think?"

"He still has not woken up," North responded solemnly. "But the magic in the room…" He sighed.

Jack looked back and forth between North and Bunny. "What about _what_ magic?" He asked. "I could sense there was something, but…?"

"Jack…" Tooth interjected carefully. "Have you ever heard of Fearlings?"

When Jack just looked confused, she bit her lower lip in thought.

"They were a kind of fear spirits that were around a long time ago. They were almost wiped out by Light Demons, a very long time ago. Almost… except for one."

Jack frowned, before his eyes widened in realization. It made a lot more sense, especially since Pitch couldn't be seen by _ordinary_ children...

"You mean, that little kid…? Is that why he looks like Pitch? They're _related?_"

"No, Jack." North rumbled. "We have… other suspicions. But we won't know about them for certain until the boy wakes up." The large man sighed. "There is one part of the story, however. And we believe it is best you are told about it."

"Have a seat, mate." Bunnymund agreed, sitting back down himself. "It's a long one."

Jack nodded, looking around at the others, before he sat down next to Tooth. North sat down in a chair so he was facing them all. Then he took a deep breath, and began.

"It all began a long time ago, when spirits in the world were very young, while the world itself was already very old..."


	3. Chapter 3

In the beginning, there were many spirits. There were those who were known as Light spirits, who got their power and energy from the sun and moon, as those brought light to the darkness. And there were the Dark spirits, who hid in the shadows as light could at times be harmful to them. And finally, there were the Grey spirits, who were neither affected by light or dark. They were connected with other sources of life.

In the beginning, there had been a balance. Spirits of either side interacted peacefully enough, and while there could be arguments, no one outright fought one another. This changed however, when the humans began to evolve.

With humans came the powers of story telling, this shifted the balance greatly. Humans feared the dark, and as a result, their stories always told of how Light defeated the Darkness in order to protect the humans. The young humanity did not think about how darkness protected as well in different ways.

The Light spirits grew strong, cold and arrogant, and as more stories of light fighting dark came to be, so did fights between Dark and Light spirits break out. Some of the Light spirits became so greedy from the power of story-telling, that they became demons, their light scorching anything living in the shadows. And it got to a point, where they would hunt down any shadow that they would see as a prey.

The Dark spirits had despite their hardships continued living the best they could. They were established in family groups, often living in nomadic tribes that traveled across the world through the shadows. The Fearlings were a such tribe, a peaceful kind of Dark Spirits who had come to care for the humans and were trying their best to protect them in the darkness, despite the fear that the humans had for it. But, the Fearlings thought, the humans were still a young race. Sooner or later, they would understand that fear was a part of life. That it could be a teacher and protector.

But the arrogant Light spirits often disagreed, sneering at the Fearlings and sometimes going so far as to chase them away from human settlements. _"Leave the humans be!"_ they would snarl. _"Your fear will only keep them from evolving!"_

_"And your Light will blind them from the dark side of life!"_ The Fearlings would retort. Still, they did not fight. They didn't want to cause strife.

The Grey spirits would sometimes be sought out for guidance, as they were considered rather powerful. Mostly, they preferred to stay out of anyone's affairs, but when some Light Spirits came to them and demanded for them to strike down the Shadows, the Grey spirits demanded to know why.

_"Because they are __**evil!**__"_ The Light spirits would cry. "_They hide in the shadows and try to frighten the humans! The humans become too afraid of living, of hunting, of travel, of anything!"_

_"And what does your light do?"_ The Grey spirits would ask in return. "_Do you keep the humans safe when they hunt? Do you bring them the animals they are to tame or hunt themselves? Do you lead the way, as the humans travel to another place?"_

_"Of course!"_ The Light objected. _"We __**love**__ the humans! We just want to protect them!"_

_"Where there is light, there will always be dark."_ The Grey spirits replied calmly._ "You are each a part of the Balance. If you do not learn to co-exist, you could destroy each other. And then where will humanity be?"_

The Light spirits did not know how to respond to that. Some of them still believed themselves to be in the right, and kept chasing Dark spirits away. Others remembered a time when they had interacted peacefully with the shadows, and carefully tried to do so again. The Dark Spirits had mixed reactions, for obvious reasons. Some asked to be left alone, because they had grown too afraid of the light, and others would bare their teeth and claws, because they did not want to be seen as weak. But others, the Fearlings especially, welcomed any friendship offered to them by the Light spirits who sought them out peacefully.

But there were still spirits of the Light, who were not as forgiving.  
-

One of the most powerful Grey spirits, was one who was the rarest of her kind. While she was born from the wind, she had a connection to all living beings on Earth. And so, while she had her own name long ago, she had for a long time gone by the name, and title, of Mother Nature. Other nature spirits referred to her, and the Light and Dark spirits came to her for council.

She knew however, that the Light spirits, especially the Demons, were not good at listening to her council. They had grown haughty in their power, and she had more often than not found it necessary to give some of them a severe thrashing for their arrogant behavior. Sometimes it at least made them pay attention, but only for a short while.

The Dark spirits had always been more respectful, though they were hesitant to seek her out. Not that she could blame them, to be honest, because unlike their Light counterparts, the Dark spirits knew that she had her own moods and whims, some more volatile than others. It made them afraid to approach her, and considering how fragile the balance had become, it would perhaps have been better if she had not been so strict. Something had to be done, before it was too late.

It was the massacre that made her decide.

Mother Nature would wander where she pleased, no matter the hour, be it night or day. Sometimes it brought her across the path of a Light Spirit, and sometimes she would come across a wandering family of Dark Spirits. If she was in a friendly mood, she would converse with them. If not, she would pass them by without a word. She enjoyed the former the most, however, because when encouraged, the Fearlings especially could be known for their dancing and singing and story telling, something which Mother Nature found pleasing.

But this night, there would be no more singing. Not for this family of Fearlings.

Whatever had attacked them, with all signs pointing to a Light spirit of some kind, perhaps even a Demon, it had been utterly merciless. Bodies lay scattered across the campsite, broken and beaten and some torn halfway to bits.

Mother Nature had seen visions of death before. Wolves or big cats could be brutal to their prey, but it was only out of hunger and not the vicious hatred and cruelty that lay across the remains of this camp like a sickening miasma.

The Gray spirit clenched her fists, feeling rage burn to her very core. This had been pure blood lust. The Light Spirit who was guilty of this had done it purely for enjoyment, not even out of the warped sense of justice they so liked to brag about. She wanted nothing more than to find the creature and wring it's pathetic neck-

Mother Nature growled at the thought, and the wind snarled with her, tearing through the nearby trees and blowing life into the remains of a fire pit, ruffling the clothes of the dead bodies…

Something was crying.

The wind died quickly as Mother Nature stiffened, straightening up and listening intensely as she did so. The crying, or rather wailing, seemed to intensify, coming from a cave that the Fearlings had probably been wanting to use as a shelter from the daylight. Several bodies showed how the poor things had probably tried to reach it for safety, among them being a young female, who lay further inside. The wailing seemed to be coming from her, Mother Nature realized, and yet…

The Grey spirit carefully moved closer to the body, frowning as she noticed the Fearling had been curled up around a bundle in her arms. Something had hit her in the back, crushing the bones and causing her death, but she'd just had enough instinct left to protect whatever was in her arms.

Pushing the body gently revealed the bundle fully, as well as its contents. An infant Fearling, who wailed miserably in the arms of its dead mother.

Mother Nature stood for a while, uncertain of what to do. Then, slowly and carefully, she reached down and wrapped her own arms around the bundle, pulling the baby away from the Fearling and into her own arms.

Oh, but it was such a tiny, light thing, and it (he, she soon found after a quick look under the cloth) was screaming incredibly loud. Mother Nature remembered seeing other Fearlings, or humans, rocking their babies and began to do so slowly, murmuring softly to the little one. Who knew how long he had been lying here? The freshness of the bodies suggested mere hours, and Mother Nature frowned at the thought of how risky their murderer had been, possibly attacking the camp right after sunset.

The gentle rocking paid off, causing the baby quiet down, until it only let out a weak, mumbling sniffle, cuddling up close to Mother Nature for warmth. She held him close, as she kept shushing him gently until he eventually fell asleep.

A part of her wanted nothing more than to go in search of the murderer while the track was still fresh. But on the other hand, she now had a quite unexpected task ahead of her.

She had a new baby to take care of.


	4. Chapter 4

Becoming a mother, in more than simply a title, was not as easy as one would seem. While spirits could bear children, Mother Nature herself had never even considered becoming an actual mother, at least not until she had found the infant fearling.

There were many things to take into consideration. First, there was the way she moved about. Due to her Grey, neutral nature, Mother Nature had not needed to think about what hour of the day she moved about. The infant Fearling, however, would be very sensitive to sunlight, and so she would have to find shelter for the day.

Next, there were the other basic needs. Infant spirits needed nourishment based on their element, and the infant Fearling… well, he would need fear. His kind had always drawn fear from their surroundings, turning it into food as a result, and Mother Nature could at least manage to scavenge something that would tide him over for a little while. But she would have to find more, hopefully from another tribe that might be able to take him in…

And third, there was the matter of a name. Naming anything was a daunting task, because names had power. But he would need a name, one that suited him.

Mother Nature did at least not have too much trouble deciding on that, as she looked up into the night sky. The moon was full and shining bright, seeming to blot out the stars, leaving behind a dark sky…

"Pitch Black," she said, almost thoughtfully, before she looked down at the infant Fearling in her arms. He merely squinted sleepily at her, and she found herself smiling gently at him.

"Pitch Black is your name, little Fear spirit."

-

Time went by, and the child grew. The sight of him together with Mother Nature became a known one, by both dark as well as light spirits. Dark spirits came to respect Mother Nature even more, and Light spirits came to fear her, both as a result of learning of the massacre on the Fearling tribe.

_'But they were Dark spirits, who probably tried to tip the balance!'_ Some Light spirits would wail, _'whoever did them in should be seen as a hero!'_

"Whoever murdered them left a child without his family." Mother Nature would tell them coldly, and would often stare down anyone who disagreed with her.

Eventually, just about all Light spirits had found that it was no use arguing with Mother Nature herself, and really, it had been quite foolish to do so in the first place. A few would still disagree with her now and then, but they were wise enough to not speak their thoughts out loud.

And Pitch grew, learning to walk and talk. Soon, he was old enough to tolerate the sunlight and to go exploring on his own. He loved to explore Mother Nature's realm of elements, and she in return came to love teaching him about everything, from the plants to the animals, and to how fly with or without the winds.

In all their time together, Mother Nature only came to regret one thing, which was how she couldn't teach him everything about his true nature as a Fearling. In the years that passed, she could teach him about the Balance, and how important it was to keep it for the sake of the humans and different spirits, but she couldn't truly teach him about Fear and his own people, or how to manipulate shadows or travel through them. That was something only Fearlings could do.

And it had been a very long time, since she had seen any Fearling that wasn't Pitch.

There had been attacks, some Dark spirits would tell her when she asked them, and Fearlings were starting to hide in other places, where no Light demons or Light Spirits in general could find them. Wherever it was, no other Dark Spirit could really say. The Fearlings did not dare to trust anyone besides themselves, not even if it meant leaving behind an orphan.

Mother Nature refused to give up, however. Even as the world changed around them, and spirits kept finding themselves having to adapt. Humans were growing in numbers, and the Balance had to be steadied more than once. Something had to be done, and soon.

Much to her surprise, a Light Spirit would seek Mother Nature out and tell her of his agreement. He was known as the Man in the Moon, and he had a proposition for her.

_A certain way to keep the balance would be to teach someone when young,_ the Moon said. _This would include human children as well. If he could find someone to help guard the Light side, perhaps one day Pitch could join these guardians one day, and watch over the Dark side._

"I shall consider it." Was all Mother Nature told the Man in the Moon, "but I make no promises. In the end, it shall be Pitch's choice alone, whether or not he will become a Guardian."

The Man in the Moon understood, and told her he would respect her wishes.

"Wait..." Jack said slowly, "so Pitch was meant to become a Guardian?"

"As soon as he was old enough, and if he wished, yes." North said with a nod. "Not long after that meeting, the Man in the Moon made Sandy the first Guardian."

"Keep in mind, humanity was still young." Tooth cut in gently, "the rest of us didn't come around until much later, in some specific chapters of human history. If one had to put it by the calendar..." she tapped her chin in thought, "then it was early bronze age, wasn't it Sandy?"

The Sandman nodded in return, adding symbols of the other Guardians, along with a calendar and extra symbols. Bunny, for some reason, had the stonehenge, while Tooth had a symbol that resembled a viking helmet. Finally, North had a symbol that Jack figured had something to do with the middle ages, which made sense since North had been made the latest Guardian, until Jack had come along.

"But Pitch..." Jack said slowly, "he's still just a little kid… wouldn't he have grown up by then?" _And what about the grown up version we fought during Easter?_ He wanted to ask as well.

Sandy shook his head, frowning as he made more symbols, showing a tiny figure of Pitch, and a clock whose arms seemed to be moving very slowly.

"Here's th' thing." Bunny explained, while absently painting an egg, "Fearlings could create a natural aura of fear around 'em, thus their name. They were an important part o' the balance, but with how they'd been frightened off, the scales had been tipped. Any natural fear around was tryin' to put itself in order, but like everything else, it takes time." Bunny took a moment to inspect the egg, then nodded and continued; "Some spirits grow very slowly, and due to how the balance was going bonkers, Pitch was no exception. Especially since he didn't quite know how to control things." At Jack's confused look, he continued: "Had 'e been with Fearlings, he might have grown up quicker, but with things as they were, Mother Nature could only do so much. Eventually, she 'ad to teach 'im how to find nourishment on his own the best she could."

"Let me guess," Jack said slowly. "By causing fear."

North nodded gravely. "We had been informed by the Man in the Moon, of course, about what was going on. We held no resentment about it either… After all, he was going to become one of us."

Sometimes, Pitch would find a playmate with human children and spend some time with them, which Mother Nature didn't mind as it would allow him to learn how to read human moods and their general nature.

But in the Dark Ages, when witch hunts came into play, something would happen that would shortly change her mind about that.

She hadn't known about the Light Demon. How could she, when most Light Demons had gone into hiding, after she and several other powerful Grey spirits had voiced their anger over the Demonic spirits murderous nature? It had learned to hide itself, just as well as the Fearlings had. At least, it was supposed to be.

Pitch had not meant to reveal the Demon. He had been playing with a human boy, and they had ended up at the public square where the execution of a hag was taking place. The Magister was reading from a list, reciting the 'crimes of witchcraft' that the hag was guilty of. But Pitch saw something else entirely.

"Why is there a monster?" he had asked the human child. His innocent question however, was just enough to trigger a panic amongst the humans when they realized what they were watching. And then Pitch found the furious, predatory gaze of the creature on him.

Pitch ran, because what else could he do? He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, but the Demon was much faster, and it soon had the little Fearling cornered in an alleyway, snarling as it blazed its terrible light on the child, making him scream and cry, curled up on the ground in pain and terror.

"**_You miserable little maggot!_**" The Light Demon snarled, "**_do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a proper host to hide with? With you revealing me, I will have to start all over again!_**"

Pitch wailed as it swatted at him with a paw, sending him flying across the ground with scorched clawmarks across his back. He tried to say something, anything that would make the Demon go away.

Then, there was suddenly the sharp**_ crack_** of a whip, and the demon drew back its head with a snarl. A small, golden figure came hovering down, glaring at the demon while placing itself protectively in front of the child. The Sandman had only just been passing by, but had heard the commotion and then felt the demonic energy, which had lead him to investigate matters.

The Light Demon snarled. A fellow spirit of light or not, the Sandman was merely another annoyance to get rid of. It reared back, readying itself to move in for the kill, when all of a sudden there was a loud crack of thunder. Both the Sandman and the demon looked up in confusion at that, the day having been overcast but otherwise fine until now, and they watched when black clouds rushed over the sky, lightning flickering in-between. Without warning, a flash of lightning struck right in between them, causing both of them to jump back while the little Fearling wailed in fright... and the Light Demon found itself facing the one Spirit that its kind had come to fear.

Mother Nature.

Winds made her hair and her green dress billow and whip around her slim form, and her expression, usually a mask of calm neutrality, was absolutely murderous! The Light Demon found itself instinctively lowering its head to the ground, hoping it would come across as suitably submissive to the Grey Spirit.

_Oh. Oh dear…_ the Demon thought. It had remembered something vaguely about Mother Nature having taken in a Fearling orphan, but when you hid among humans for so long, it wasn't easy to confirm rumors… It tried to say as much, but was quickly silenced by another furious crack of thunder. It decided to keep itself as low to the ground, and as still as possible while the storm above them raged.

Mother Nature gave the Demon a hard glare, before she turned and moved over to the little Fearling, who lay curled up behind the Sandman, who moved aside. Pitch's clothes had been torn from the Demons claws, and he whimpered when his adoptive mother gently examined the burned claw marks, while gently murmuring questions to the boy, asking him what had happened. Then, once the boy had managed to give out some whimpered answers, her glare returned to the Demon, her eyes blazing with fury.

"You _dare..._" Mother Nature growled as she straightened up, before the Demon could even attempt to grovel out an apology. "You dare believe, that you can simply hide among humans and spread your chaos… and when you are called out for your deeds, you take out your rage on a _child!_ _**MY**_ child!"

The demon pressed itself hard against the ground, much like a dog thoroughly being scolded by its master. It knew this much was certain: It would be lucky if it got out of this alive.

Behind Mother Nature, the Sandman had made a light shield out of his sand, to protect the child from the gusts of wind and dust blowing around them. And from the sight of what his mother was going to do to the Light Demon.

******************************

"So what happened then?"

"Mother Nature and Sandy brought Pitch to me," North said with a frown. "My workshop had only just been built, and by a request from the Man in the Moon, I had built in some guest rooms. One such had been specially made for Pitch, though I had at the time not met him yet, only heard that he was one day to become a Guardian. At that time, there was too much going on for us to be formally introduced." He sighed, shaking his head. "It was… terrible, to put it lightly."

"I c'n still see it for me too," Bunny said, sounding pitying, which was a surprise considering how Pitch (or perhaps not) had been responsible for ruining Easter only months before. "I was asked t' come help with some of my medicinal herbs, an' Mother Nature had t' hold him, while I made an ointment fer his burns. Some of it stung, no matter what I tried, and the poor little mite would just cry and cry… It was ruddy awful, it was."

"It scarred him in more ways too." Tooth added sadly, "where a human child becomes afraid of the dark, he became afraid of the light. Even a simple glow lamp felt like too much for him."

Sandy nodded sadly, making signs of his own, of a little Pitch crying whenever he saw Sandy, despite how the other had saved his life. It had taken a long time, the Dreamweaver explained, before everyone managed to convince Pitch, that Sandy would never hurt him.

"Eventually, Pitch slowly recovered." North continued, "and he even became brave enough to come out into the workshop. At least as long as he had his mother with him, t' begin with. And then it was decided, that we should all have a formal introduction."

The four Guardians were all gathered in front of the globe. Above them, the moon was visible through the skylight, seeming to watch all that was going on. On the lower levels, the yeti and elves were busy working on toys, and keeping the workshop running. Up on this level, everything else was quiet, the Guardians waiting in silence.

Mother Nature soon came out of one of the nearby doorways. She took her time, walking slowly while holding a smaller figure by the hand, speaking gentle encouragement to him as they went.

"Come on," she would tell him. "Nothing is going to happen, I promise. They won't hurt you." She smiled gently as she said this, and the little Fearling at least seemed somewhat assured. He stayed close however as they came to a stop, clinging to the skirt of her dress, when she gently pulled her hand away and instead gently combed her fingers through his hair, as she stood up straight.

"Greetings, Guardians of Childhood." Mother Nature said. "I am here to introduce you to my son, Pitch Black. Some day, by an agreement with the Man in the Moon, I hope he will join your ranks as the Guardian of Fear."

Then, the Guardians were introduced, one by one. North, as the newest Guardian himself, went first. He was usually very boisterous, as well as curious, because he had never met a Fearling in his time. But he took care, knowing how the little spirit had been hurt before coming to his workshop. So he knelt down, smiling gently at Pitch.

"My greetings to you, Mother Nature, and to you, little Pitch Black." He said, holding out a hand in greeting for the young Fearling. "I will look forward to the day, when you become a Guardian."

Pitch had looked at him with wide, and slightly intimidated eyes. But with gentle encouragement from Mother Nature, he managed to step forward and reach out with his own hand to take hold of North's. North's hand, unsurprisingly, was enormous compared to Pitch's, who could barely cover two of Norths fingers. It at least seemed to fascinate the boy instead of frightening him, and he spent a good deal of time examining North's hand, much to the amusement of the Cossack.

After some time, the other Guardians were introduced as well. Tooth and Bunny were both given a solid inspection, Bunny because of his soft fur, and Tooth because of her feathers, which Pitch thought were beautiful. And the sight of one of Tooth's mini-fairies made the boy laugh in delight for the first time in a long time.

Sandy had been the most difficult one. In the weeks that had passed since Pitch had been brought to the North Pole, the little Fearling had been completely terrified of anything related to the light. Sandy, being very much a light spirit, had been no exception. It had taken a long time for Mother Nature to fully assure Pitch, that Sandy would never, ever harm him the way that the Light Demon had. Helping Pitch remember, that Sandy had been there to protect him from the Demon had helped a little to assure Pitch, that this was true.  
And now, feeling safe with his mother as well as with the other Guardians, Sandy would feel relief when the boy greeted him with a smile.

"After that, Pitch was able to stay with us here at the North Pole." North said, "and eventually, he became brave enough to explore the outside on his own, which also became a necessity." He sighed.

"A necessity?" Jack frowned, not liking what it might indicate.

"He still needed to learn how to control fear. And this meant going to human towns and cities again." Tooth continued, "at least as long as he had someone with him. Mother Nature asked us to help watch over Pitch, and so we did. After all, he was going to become one of us some day, so we might as well teach him how to be a Guardian while we were at it."

Bunny grunted. "Aside from that, Mother Nature went out on long searches after that time, searches that would take days."

"Searches for other Fearlings?" Jack guessed, and Bunny nodded.

"She felt awful that she hadn't been able t' teach him some specific things, such as traveling through shadows. Had he been able t' do that, he might've been able t' escape that demon and not get hurt. As it was, only his own kind could properly teach 'im. And that became like lookin' for a needle in a haystack, especially when you gotta look after a kid in the meantime."

"And that," Tooth added with a sad sigh, "lead Mother Nature to a very difficult decision."


End file.
